Electron tube apparatus



Sept. 20, 1932. c. F. RUDOLPH 1,878,251

ELECTRON TUBE -APPARATUS @om E I ATTORNEY Sept. 20. '1932. c. if. RUDOLPH ELECTRON TUBE APPARATUS 2 shets-sheet 2 Filed March 8. 1930 TFE- E l INVENTOR.

Qfyfz w ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 20, 1932 invention relates broadly to electron tube apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for determiningjthe effective life ,W oran electron tube;-v "5 j 'Gnel or the'objects of'mylinve.

tion is to provide an automatic apparatusior registertlie'life of an electron tubemaybe accurately w determined and theservice given b-.y av radio I5 transmitter for re'zgfisteredi` fj Y fAjfu-rtherobject of-rny` invention fis. to proff vide-ia circuit `arrangeme nt for an automatic counter'i'n association? With-"an electric clock.

:W20 energized vfromffthe-V cathode circuit of' an electron tube for registeringthe timeperiod over which the tubeis eiieetiveand; indicating the-lifeot the tube'. 1'

ilresideyin the construction otapparatus 4tor registeringthetime 'ot service of an `electron tube as will be morefully understoodffrom the specieationihereinafter tollowingbyreference to; theflaccompanyingf drawingsyin 'eiatedl thev counter'me'chanism Vof iuvention; 'Figa is` a* front'. elevation for', A.the

counter lneclfianism. of `my' invention partially` lorolren away tofv show-` the'iactuating i mecha-V ;i nism' which' is associated therewith; Fig; 5

' the casing Voffdthecounter mechanism broken away wto show the operation Tot. the 4parts therein; 'Figi- 61 isfal erosslsectionalv view through the magnetic control device lfor the .l ..11 A 60113151111.: RUDOLF@owAsnnofrommeunieroF @OLUMIA nignofrnonjnrnnQgARATS-Q Y any.lv particu-lar time may beI K. o

v mention a vacuumtubelifemeterjingyvhi-ch f ffOther and further' Iobj ect-s of invention off partsin-the electric clock vwhich .is assoi isaplan view ofthe" counter-mechanism with Y countertakenon line 65e-6; or: Fig` glari; Fig.

IseoiiseriaiNafierasa .7 is a view sho-Wing` themodiiied ar- ""V rangement'for the electricvclockclrcuit andV thecountermechanism, A fr In high powerA transmitters v employing electron tubesot large size I have oulndlthat its for the: economic Y operation. andlnaintenance of 'the` transmitter,l it is important ,to know the relative effective 'lite' othe high power tubes which areemployed infthe transmitter. i It is not practical howeverto installa watt hounmeter in the transmitter as this yHopa-fv ratus Voccupies. morespace thanijs available in: fthe modern electrongtubejtransmitter 4and unreasonably adds to 'expense of the apparatus. I have deviseda .circuitf-,arrange-` a counter mechanismhasan-zactuatingwinding connected incircultwlth thecontrolgjcir.d 1

nate! an electric counter ,with the controlicir.- cuit. of :the winding mechanism" in .electric l "clockv thateach impulse derivedrom theV clock mechanism operates' to step; .the l. colin r.; fore i Y .Ward thereby;registeringthe'received imf pulse.: f Theimpulses received from the Velec` tric-clock. are transmitted each minute fand* the: :counter is` f provided with sixty ,ratchet teeth; which may-be moved by the stepibystep e mechanism inthe-,counter upon lreeeiptgof eachfirnpnlse from thefelectriogcloclr so that 'one1num'eral isgs'hittedon the'fcounter each y hour. lThe reading on the countertherefore directly `indicates,-` the `number-jof` hours over Jfrom the counter- The counter of ymyinv'ention isv a tachorneteriespeciallydesignedfor 1 siXtyf step by step; movements foreach revo-` y'cuitof an.electricclock!andiisenergiued,in 'f "accordancevwith the impulsesreceiveol. from i au said electriccloclr,mechanism lts'oacloordi.-

lution to eect one complete revolution perV i hour-L Manufacturers l gnarantee; a f certain minimum; numberjfot Lhoursll-teforeach vacuumtube and nnle'ssgan accurate. form of i counter mechaniSmsi-s installed fini the trans-, mitterthe oustomer'has nofrneans of knowing been.purchased` has actually metfthe manuV accuratebI whetherornot the .tube whichhas Y facturers guarantee .With the; apparatus 1100.

Vnon-energized position. A

'ence character 1 indicates an electric clock associated with the counter mechanism indicated at 3. The electromagnetic driving coil 4 of the electric clock is connected in parallel with the driving coil 5 of the counter mechanism. These coils are in turn connected to the contacts 6 of the electric clock and to the filament circuit of vacuum tube 7 The filament circuit of the Vacuum tube may be connected to an alternating current source as shown at 8 by the use of the transformer 9 or this circuit may be a direct current circuit. The electric clock is so constructed that the coil 4 energizes the magnetic circuit 10 which in turn actuates armature 11`against the tension of spring 12. Armature 11 gives link mechanism 13 an impulse which stretches spring 25. This spring tension revolves'the mechanism of the clock through pawl 14 and ratchet wheel 15. Armature 11 also actuates contacts 6 through arm 16 which is pivoted at 16a. Spring 16?) tends to normally hold arm 16 in such position that contacts 6 are closed Subj ect to the opening thereof upon the momentary shifting of the lever 16. In operation the clock is wound up for a given time interval such as-one minute by an impulse given by armature 11. The circuit is made through contact 6 for just an instant. Since the coils 4 and 5 are in parallel,'whenever coil 4 is energized coil 5 together with its magnetic circuit is also energized.

` Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show details of the counter mechanism illustrated. in Fig. 1. The magnetic circuit of the counter mechanism includes an armature 17 mounted on bearing 18. A spring 19 brings the armature back to its spring and pawl 2O is mounted on armature 17. This actuates ratchet wheel 21 mounted on a shaft of the counter mechanism 22. This counter mechanism 22 is shownl more clearly in Figs. 4 and 5. A` stopping spring 23 is provided to prevent the backing up of ratchet wheel 21. The counterrmechanism 22 is mounted on a frame 24 which also supports the actuating magnetic system. The number of teeth in the ratchet wheel 21 together with the gear: ratchet of counter mechanism 22 are adjusted so that withthe time interval of the electric clock 1 when set at a given value the dial of the counter mechanism 22 will read in units of time. These'units are normally hours so that a reference to the dial will indicate the total number of hours that a vacuum tube has been in service. The counter mechanism 22 may be provided with a reset device so that it may be reset to zero when a new tube is put in the radio transmitter or the reset device maybe combination tube is put in place and taken out. In the latter case, subtracting the reading of the dial when the tube is put in place from that when thle) tube is taken out will give the life of the tu e.

In Fig. 2 I have indicated the' condition where the electron tube cathode circuit has been energized and an initial impulse has been imparted to the armature of the electr0- magnetic system in the electric clock producing a winding operation `and opening the circuit to the electromagnets 4 and 5. The coils of theV counter mechanism of the clock may be arranged in series instead of in parallel. This is shown in Fig. 7 where these coils are connected in series with each other and with contacts 6.v of electric clock v1. VVheth'er the parallelconnection or the series connection is used depends upon the particular circuit conditions', upon the winding of the coils and the arrangement of associated circuits.

The apparatus of my invention may be inexpensively manufactured and occupies a very small space. with respect to the transmitter to provide accurate time when its mechanism is being used in association with the counter mechanism to measure the life of the high power tube used in the transmitter. Another. advantage of the system is that th'eelectric clock may be yplaced at a substantial distance away from the counterv mechanism,-such as onthe front panelof a radio transmitter where it is readily visible, the counter mechanism being located at 'some remote partof the transmitter and connectedto the two conductors illustrated with the electric. clock on the front panel. The service life of the radio transmitter for` any given interval of time may beV measured by the mechanism `of my invention as well as the life of the high power tubes used in the apparatus. 11

vWhile I have described my invention in certain preferred embodiments I desire that itbe understood that modifications may be made and that'no limitations upon my invention are intended other than are imposed by the scope of the appendedclaims.

What I'Ycl'aim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent of the vUnited States is as follows: i

1. In a system for measuringthe'eifective life of electron tubes in combination with a cathode circuit of an el-ectron tube, an electric clock, means in said 'electric' clock for producing a characteristically timed succession of impulses, and an electrically driven count-Y er mechanism electrically connected 'with said means for indicating the total time intervalv during which-the cathode circuit of the electron tube is energized.

2. In a system for measuring the effective number of hours over whichanelectrontube is operative, thecombination with anlelectron The clock may be mounted wl energizing said cathode circuitfangelectric tube having acathode circui'tkof'aii electricV clockenergized by power derived from said cathode circuit, meansrin said electric vclock for producing a` characteristically' timed succession `of impulses,and anelectrically driven counter mechanism electrically `actuatedby lthe `characteristically timed suc-V cession of'impulses from said electric 'clock for indicating the total number ofhours over which the cathodefofv the electron tubeis energized.

3. In asystem forregistering the service time of an electronktube, the combinationof an electron tubehaving a cathode' circuit,

Y means electrically energized fromsaid c'athode circuit for producing "a characteristically timed successionof impulses, and meanselectrically operated bythe impulses thusjproduced for registering the time interval over which the cathode circuitofthe electron tube is energized; Y' ,Y '4. l1n a system forregis'teringthe time inc terval' over which a `power consuming circuit is energized, means for producing `trom-said power lcircuit a characteristically timed suc-VV fcession of impulses, a counter mechanism electricallyenergized by said iinpulses,;and means energizedby fsaid impulsesfor integrating the'total number of suchimpulsesgenerated for indicating the timeperiodl over which saidpower consuming circuit is energized,V

5.' Ingasystem lfor registering thetotal periodfofrtime over which a powerconsuming circuit is energized, an electricclock connected vwith saidpcwer consuming circuit, saidelectric clock including means for producing a characteristically timed succession of imcession of impulses producedvbyr said elec` tric clock integrating the total period lof time 'e over which said cathode circuit is energized.'

' 'd'0 `a characteristically pulses, andV anelectrically actuated counter i mechanism electrically operated by saidl elcctric-clock for Vrecording the total time, period over which said power consuming `circuit isenergized. Y 6.7In an electron tube system, an electron tube including a cathode circuit, meansfor clock driven fromsaid. cathode circuit,l said electric clock including means for-producing Va characteristically timedsuccessionf of impulses, and an electrically actuated counter device electrically driven by the timedsuc- 7. Ina systemfor measuring the service time of'electrical apparatus,the combination Vcfa-power supply circuit, an electric clock v driven from'said power. supply circuit,said

y electromagnet for driving l saidcounter and V8*.*111 asystemrfor registering the effectiveV Ynumber of serviceliours of an electron tube,

an electronjtubelincluding a cathode circuit, i

an electricclock containing afmagnetc 00h-"6 l trol and contact device therein, said'magnetic control operating tosuccessivelyclosesaidcontact device, a counter mechanism including an yelectromagnet, said electromagnet being connected in series withfsaidzcontact deviceand Vwith said cathode circuit, and mechanical means'driven by said electromagnet for yinteg'rati'ng thenumber ofimpulses supplied f, f to said electromagnetfor registering thetotal time period-OverV which saidV cathode circuit ,c Vforrecording the'serviceV L ,life of an electron tube,'th e combinationfot is energized,

9; In a system an 'electron tube :including a cathode circuit, a

sourcefof heating energy connected Vwith said Vcathode circuit, an electric clock including fa n magnetic controland ajcontact device, acounter mechanism including anelectromagnet, a i ratchetmechanism driven by said -electro' magnet, kand ay register `controlled}thereby,

said ratchet mechanism beingimovable insuc` Vic'essive steps sixty times perfhour for completing afsingle revolution and movings'aid reg-` ister one unit, the magnetic control Yand con` to the v'electromagne ti Vin said counterl eachf tact device said electric clock Voperating to- ,transmit anelectric impulse from said source minute during theen'ergizatioii time [of saidf` f cathode circuit, for'measuring the time period during which said cathode circuit is energized i for registering the service time` of the electrontube. Y 'V '10..1II1 asystemfor registeringthe 'elapsedV l time offoperation'of thesupply circuit of an electric device, an integrating counter, an

los i anelectrically'drivenlclockmechanism a'daptto said supply circuit 'intermittently yat regular intervals', the4 actuating winding ofgsaid` ed to closethe connectionof its driving-means 'l electromagnet of said counter being connected no to saidsupplyV Ccircuit through Ythe .connection V of saiddriving-means of said clock, whereby electricn clock having means fonproducingv Y' i timed succession of electric impulses, and

u. u `ai`1 electrically yactuated Y counter mechanism including magnetic means i actuated bysaidelectric impulses -for `inte" grating the impulsesgproduced'by said ,clocky Y y rand-registering the total time period' over whichsaid powersupply circuit is' energized. 

